diff --git a/backend/app/workers/celery_app.py b/backend/app/workers/celery_app.py
index 0dfcd9da..188078b1 100644
--- a/backend/app/workers/celery_app.py
+++ b/backend/app/workers/celery_app.py
@@ -247,6 +247,25 @@ def _resume_zombie_runs(sender=None, **_kwargs) -> None:
     logger.info("worker_ready: resume scan starting")
     from sqlalchemy import text
 
+    # Persistent breadcrumb: write to nspd_geo_log so we can confirm via DB
+    # query whether worker_ready actually fired (independent of container logs).
+    try:
+        from app.core.db import SessionLocal
+
+        _db = SessionLocal()
+        try:
+            _db.execute(
+                text(
+                    "INSERT INTO nspd_geo_log (job_id, level, stage, message) "
+                    "VALUES (0, 'info', 'worker_ready', 'worker_ready signal fired')"
+                )
+            )
+            _db.commit()
+        finally:
+            _db.close()
+    except Exception as _e:
+        logger.warning("worker_ready: breadcrumb insert failed: %s", _e)
+
     from app.core.db import SessionLocal
 
     db = SessionLocal()